The aerodynamic performance of an open wheel race car is significantly affected when following another vehicle. This paper presents experimental and CFD results for a generic 25% scale Formula one car operating in the wake of another vehicle. Different approaches are investigated including a short-axial-length bluff body, twocar CFD simulations and single car CFD with a wake imposed on the inlet boundary. It has been shown that a short bluff bodied wake generator is capable of reproducing the effects of the wake of a generic Formula 1 car and allows for greater axial separations to be tested. For the following vehicle in the wind tunnel, downforce losses of over 60% were recorded with an accompanying rearwards shift of the aerodynamic centre of pressure. The front wing loses both downforce and efficiency (L/D); the underfloor and rear wing experience larger downforce losses than the front wing but their efficiencies remain approximately constant. The wake of a generic Formula 1 car can be idealized in CFD by sampling the wake at a downstream plane and imposing this condition at the inlet of another case. Despite some discrepancies there are sufficient similarities to suggest that following this path could lead to some simulation time savings and offers the potential for different characteristics of the wake can be isolated, removed or exaggerated. Sampling the wake further downstream of the generic Formula 1 car has a similar effect to increasing the axial separation in the experimental case, as downforce is found to recover more rapidly than drag.
Investigation into the effect of the wake from a generic formula one car on a downstream vehicle
2014
11 Seiten, Bilder, Tabellen, 20 Quellen
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Englisch
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